The present invention relates in general to trading cards. More particularly, the present invention relates to a computerized method and system for creating trading cards.
Trading cards, such as professional sports trading cards, are a popular source of entertainment for children and adults alike. Oftentimes, people emulate the sports heroes that they see on television and hope to perform fantastic athletic feats just like their sports heroes. As part of this fantasy, people may desire to have a trading card featuring themselves in the performance of a sporting activity similar to that of their heroes. Thus, there is a need for a simple, cost-effective method and system for creating customized trading cards, such as by using a computer system.
Trading cards typically include various statistics relating to the featured person""s performance of a sporting activity. Trading cards are typically created on a periodic basis so as to include up-to-date statistical data of the featured person. Some trading cards may further include comparative statistics based on other people participating in the same or similar sporting activity. Thus, there is a need for a method and system for creating sports cards that includes central repository for storing, and updating statistical data of one or more persons.
The present invention fulfills the needs in the art by providing a system and method for creating a customized trading card. Statistical data may be stored in a memory storage device, such as in a data file or in a statistics database. The statistical data may relate to the performance of a person in an activity, such as a sporting activity. One or more digital images may also be stored in the memory storage device.
A number of pre-defined trading card templates may also be stored in the memory storage device, such as in a template database or any other data file. A template comprises a pre-designed arrangement of statistical data fields and an image field. Front templates may be designed for the front of the trading card and back templates may be designed for the back of the trading card. A user may be provided with the option to select a front template and a back template. The trading card is created by importing the statistical data into the statistical data fields of the template and importing the digital image into the image field of the template.
Statistical data relating to a plurality of people may be stored in memory. As such, the statistics of one person may be compared to those of another person in order to determine an ordinal rank for the first person relating to the first statistic. The ordinal rank may also be imported into a selected one of the statistical data fields of the template.
The statistical data may relate to the performance of a person in a sporting activity and may comprises game/season statistics. For example, if the sporting activity is baseball, the game/season statistics may comprise trips to the plate and hits. The present invention may be configured to automatically calculate a cumulative statistic from the game/season statistics. In the baseball example, the cumulative statistic may be a batting average, a slugging percentage or an ERA. The cumulative statistic may also be imported into a selected one of the statistical data fields of the template.
In a distributed network environment, the present invention may comprise a central server for executing a trading card program module. A user device may interact with the central server via the distributed network, such as by way of a web-browser. At the central server, a statistics database or a data file may be maintained for storing statistical data received from the user device. An image file may also be received at the central server from the user device. In response to receiving statistical data and an image file from the user device, the central server may present a list of pre-defined templates to the user device. The pre-defined templates may be stored in a templates database or a data file at the central server.
In response to the list of pre-defined templates, the central server may receive a template selection command from the user device indicating a selected template from the list of pre-defined templates. The central server may then import the image file received from the user device into an image field of the selected template and import the statistical data into statistical data fields of the selected template so as to create the trading card. The trading card may then be presented to the user device.
The central server may also receive an edit command from the user device indicating that the trading card is to be edited. In response to the edit command, the central server may edit the trading card. The finalized trading card may then be stored as a card file in a memory, such as in a card database accessible by the central server. The user may print the card file to a local printer at the user device or may submit a request for a professionally printed version of the trading card to the central server. The central server may include or may be in communication with hardware and software components for generating the requested professionally printed cards. Alternately, the central server may transmit the card file to a professional printing service provider. The professional printing service provider may be an independent entity, or may be the same entity that controls or maintains the central server. The central server may receive an electronic payment authorization, such as a financial account number, from the user device for the professionally printed version of the trading cards. If appropriate, the central sever and the professional printing service provider may also perform settlement by way of electronic funds transfer.